WVSTS Board of Directors
Marsha Waybright
Marsha Waybright – Educator, Entrepreneur, Conservation Advocate
A native of Randolph County, West Virginia, Marsha Waybright hails from Middle Mountain and is proud to call Jenningston home alongside her husband, Kendall Waybright, a Tucker County native. A passionate and purpose-driven entrepreneur, Marsha owns and operates four successful enterprises in the heart of Appalachia: Laurel River Club Bed & Breakfast, Laurel Fork Farm, Mama Bear Protection, and the West Virginia School of Traditional Skills, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization she founded.
A dynamic motivational speaker and lifelong educator, Marsha draws on a vast and diverse skill set to empower others. Her work emphasizes the sustainable use of natural resources, land stewardship, and traditional Appalachian heritage. At the center of her mission is Laurel Fork Farm, a 400-acre living classroom that serves as the foundation for much of her educational outreach and community engagement.
Marsha is a Master Artisan in soap making, Master Gardener, certified animal trainer, USCCA-certified firearms instructor, WVDNR hunter safety education instructor, Red Cross-certified CPR/First Aid/AED instructor, herbalist, and Bible teacher. She is also a proud homeschooling mother of three—an achievement she considers among her most meaningful.
Her family’s additional enterprises—including Laurel Fork Falconry, It’s Kendra Paige, RedheadnMudboots, and The Chicken Tender—are seamlessly integrated into the educational programming at the B&B, where Marsha also serves as property manager. These businesses create immersive, hands-on experiences that enrich the lives of students, guests, and visitors alike.
Marsha is deeply committed to preserving the cultural and environmental legacy of Jenningston, WV, once a thriving lumber town. Through the West Virginia School of Traditional Skills and strategic partnerships with local, regional, and national organizations, she works tirelessly to promote conservation, historic preservation, and agricultural literacy.
Her leadership and innovation have not gone unnoticed. In 2023, Laurel Fork Farm was named Tucker County Conservation Farm of the Year, recognized for its pioneering role in agritourism. Marsha has been featured in Countryside Magazine, Goldenseal Magazine, West Virginia Living Magazine, and numerous regional publications. She was recognized by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for her work in small business development and invited to Washington, D.C., to speak with representatives about targeted marketing and rural entrepreneurship.
In addition to being inducted into the West Virginia Women in Agriculture in 2023, Marsha serves as a mentor in the Farm Fellows Program at Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College. She was named Tucker County Business Person of the Year in 2024 and continues to advocate for rural communities at both the state and national level.
She has been a featured speaker at a wide range of prominent events, including the 2023 Governor’s Conference on Tourism, the 2023 West Virginia Women in Agriculture Conference, the 2024 Homesteading-ish Conference, the 2024 WV FCCLA Conference, and the 2025 Root to Table Conference, among others.
In 2024, Marsha was selected to participate in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses inaugural West Virginia cohort. As part of this program, she traveled to Washington, D.C., where she joined the 10,000SBV Rural Advocacy Conference, meeting with national leaders such as U.S. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and congressional staff from the offices of Governor Jim Justice, Congressman Riley Moore, and Congresswoman Carol Miller. The Waybright Family was also featured in a high-profile advocacy campaign aimed at highlighting the importance of small businesses in rural America.
Marsha maintains an active digital presence and leads educational and promotional efforts across several platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads, and the YouTube channel “The Waybright Family – Experience West Virginia With Us.” Through these platforms, she shares glimpses of farm life, educational content, and inspirational messages that reach and uplift thousands.
Whitney Mulllennex
Bio coming soon.
Kendra Waybright
Kendra is homeschool graduate, fourth-generation farmer and entrepreneur who has a successful business called "It's Kendra Paige." She is passionate about handmade items, fiber art, raising animals, and sustainable living. She works with her family at Laurel River Club Bed & Breakfast and farms in both Tucker and Randolph Counties. She sells crochet plushies in several area gift shops. She raises Finn sheep and Angora rabbits to use their wool for many of her fiber creations. She shares most of my adventures on social media.
Nita Hobbs
Nita Hobbs, MA – CEO/Executive Director, West Virginia Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (WVARF)
An experienced leader and problem solver, Nita has over 7 years of Management and Accounting experience, as well as a Master of Arts Degree. She is also a current MBA Candidate with a focus in accounting and will graduate in Fall 2024. As a systems thinker, she was integral in the reorganization and upgrade of the accounting system for WVARF in 2020. Her experience includes human resources functions and management, accounting functions and management, vendor and employee training and development, curriculum development, inventory management and project management.
Her current and previous non-profit work focuses on changing the narrative of what it means to live, work and recreate in West Virginia. Nita owns and operates a hobby farm in Barbour County growing hops and producing value-added canned goods for sale. She is a member of the Mountain State Co-Hop, and works to further their mission of strengthening the network of hop-growers and value-added producers around the state. Nita enjoys traveling around West Virginia backpacking, off-roading and kayaking with her husband and two dogs.
Robert Schaaf
Retired Chapel US Army Ceremonial Organist and Chapel Choirmaster, Ft. Myer VA retired after 45 years of service on June 10, 2011. He has performed over 35,000 funeral/memorial services throughout the years for soldiers and families alike, along with over 3000 weddings. He has been organist /choirmaster for the Roman Catholic Congregation for Sunday services since 1966. He additionally was appointed by the Post Chaplain, COL William Martin as organist/choirmaster for General Protestant Congregation when he installed as successor to William H. Heasley as civil service employee in 1977.
Some of Schaff's most memorable services include; memorial services for the Challenger and Columbia astronauts, boxer Joe Lewis, General Creighton Abrams, Supreme Court Justices Goldberg and Powell, Mamie Eisenhower, and 48 victims of 9/11 Pentagon disaster including the pilot of the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
Doctor Robert Ebert
2001 graduate of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Ebert lives in Fairmont, WV with his wife Karen, they have been married for 42 years. He owns Hickman Run Animal Hospital in Fairmont and is a co-owner of the North Central West Virginia Veterinary Emergency Clinic. Dr. Ebert was formerly a WV State Park Superintendent and Forest Ranger, a career that spanned 17 years, before becoming a veterinarian. His interests include fishing, hiking, leading nature walks at the WV Wildflower Pilgrimage at Blackwater Falls State Park, and enjoying his 2 married children, their spouses, and 6 grandchildren
Jennie Shifflett
Bio coming soon